Coyotes Around Chandler Pond: Nocturnal Visitors and How to Coexist

By Jared McNabb. Coyote photo from Arnold Arboretum, Boston’s website

In the stillness of the night around Chandler Pond, the haunting sound of coyotes can often be heard echoing through the air. Their yips, howls, and barks are a common soundtrack for early mornings and late evenings in the area, signaling the presence of these adaptable creatures. Coyotes, once primarily associated with rural and wilderness areas, have increasingly found their way into urban environments, including around Chandler Pond. With their growing presence, it’s important for visitors to understand how to coexist with these wild animals and take steps to avoid potential conflicts.

Why Are Coyotes Active Now?

Coyotes are active year-round, but they are especially noticeable during the colder months, from late fall to early spring. This time of year brings more frequent sightings and vocalizations as coyotes work to provide food for themselves and their young. Their howls and yips are used for communication with pack members, to mark territory, and to help coordinate hunting efforts, all of which are more common during these colder months when food can be more scarce.

The urban wilds around Chandler Pond offers coyotes an abundance of food sources, such as small mammals, rodents, and even food scraps from humans. This easy access to sustenance allows them to thrive in close proximity to people, particularly at night when they feel safer from human activity.

The Coyote Incident: A Cautionary Tale

While coyotes are not generally a threat to humans, their presence in urban areas like Chandler Pond calls for a mindful approach to coexistence. Coyotes are opportunistic hunters, and they will sometimes prey on small pets such as dogs and cats, especially during the winter months when food is scarce. Last year, a concerning incident near Chandler Pond involved a coyote attacking a dog. Fortunately, the dog survived the encounter, but it served as a stark reminder of the potential risks of living close to coyotes. Although such attacks are rare, they can happen when coyotes feel threatened or are in search of food. This underscores the importance of keeping pets safe and taking precautions to avoid these types of encounters.

Steps to Prevent Coyote Encounters Around Chandler Pond and Other Urban Environments

With the right precautions, it is entirely possible for humans and coyotes to share space safely. For those who live near Chandler Pond or frequent the area, it’s important to take proactive steps to minimize the risk of a coyote encounter. Here are a few key actions to consider:

1. Stay Alert: When walking or hiking near Chandler Pond, particularly at dawn or dusk, be aware of your surroundings. Coyotes are most active during these times, so it’s important to stay vigilant and avoid walking too close to known coyote habitats.

2. Leash Your Pets: Always keep dogs on a leash, especially when near wooded areas or areas where coyotes are known to be active. This ensures your pet remains under control and reduces the likelihood of them wandering into coyote territory.

3. Make Yourself Known: If you see a coyote, don’t approach it. Instead, make loud noises, clap your hands, or wave your arms to scare it off. Coyotes tend to avoid humans and will usually leave when they feel threatened.

4. Carry a noisemaker: A can or tin filled with a few coins and secured can make a noisemaker effective at scaring off a coyote.

5. Secure Food Sources: Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and will take advantage of easy food sources. It’s important to keep trash in sealed containers, bring pet food inside at night, and avoid leaving bird seed or trash accessible. This reduces the chance of attracting coyotes to your property.

Coyotes are a natural part of the ecosystem around Chandler Pond, and they help manage rodent populations and maintain balance in the local environment. While a sighting can be startling, these creatures generally prefer to avoid humans and are not inherently dangerous. By taking simple precautions—such as securing food sources, supervising pets, and using deterrents—residents can help reduce the risk of conflicts. Coexisting with coyotes is possible if we respect their space and remain mindful of how to live safely in areas where wildlife and humans intersect. As you hear the distant calls of coyotes at night, remember that these resilient animals are a part of the vibrant natural world that surrounds us.

The Great Horned Owl of Chandler Pond: A Nocturnal Sentinel

By Jared McNabb. Photo from the Arnold Arboretum website, taken by Lucy Merrill-Hills

As the sun sets and the sky darkens over Chandler Pond, a distinctive, resonant hoot often fills the cool night air. Have you heard it? It's the sound of a great horned owl—one of nature’s most iconic nocturnal hunters. Known for its deep, eerie calls and formidable presence, the great horned owl is a true marvel of the wild, and this particular owl has become a familiar figure (mostly in sound only) around Chandler Pond, especially in the quiet of the early mornings and late nights.

The Great Horned Owl: A Nocturnal Hunter

Great horned owls are large, powerful birds of prey easily recognized by their tufted “horns” which are actually feathers on the top of their heads, giving them an almost mythical appearance. These feathers aren't actual horns but are thought to help with camouflage or communication. These owls are also known for their keen hearing, excellent night vision, and strong, silent flight.

Typically, great horned owls are active during twilight and nighttime hours, making their distinctive hoots a common sound in the evening and early morning. Their hoot is deep and resonant, often heard as a "who-who-who-who" or sometimes a "ho-ho-ho-hoo." This call serves various purposes, including marking territory and attracting mates. A few residents, including myself, have had the privilege of spotting this nocturnal neighbor however it’s the resonant hoot echoing through the air around Chandler Pond which signals that the area is well within the owl's domain.

Habitat and Diet

Great horned owls are highly adaptable birds that can live in a wide range of environments, from forests to deserts and even urban areas like ours. They nest in tall trees, cliffs, or even abandoned buildings, where they can watch over their hunting grounds. Around Chandler Pond, these owls likely roost in the trees lining the water's edge, using their keen eyesight to spot potential prey.

As carnivores, great horned owls are highly effective hunters, preying on a variety of animals, including rodents, rabbits, and even small mammals like squirrels. Their diet also includes birds, such as doves and waterfowl, and sometimes even reptiles during warmer months. Thanks to their powerful talons and strong beaks, they can take down prey larger than themselves.

However, the owl's preferred diet often includes smaller mammals, especially rodents like mice and rats, which are sometimes abundant around urban wilds like Brighton. Their ability to control local rodent populations is one of the many reasons they are valued as a natural pest control method.

The Importance of Non-Toxic Pest Control

While the great horned owl is a highly efficient predator, its role in managing rodent populations is often overlooked. Rodents like mice and rats are not just a nuisance—they can cause significant damage to property, and even pose health risks by spreading disease. Many homeowners and businesses turn to traditional pest control methods to manage rodent populations, but the use of toxic chemicals can have dangerous consequences for wildlife.

In particular, rodenticides can be harmful to owls and other animals higher up the food chain. When an owl consumes a rodent that has ingested poison, it too can be affected by these toxins. This is why using non-toxic, eco-friendly pest control solutions is so important. Options such as traps, natural predators, and habitat modifications (like securing trash and sealing entry points) can help reduce rodent numbers without putting the owls and other wildlife at risk.

By promoting natural pest control methods, we can help maintain the health of our animal neighbors and the local ecosystem. The great horned owl, with its incredible hunting abilities, plays an invaluable role in keeping rodent populations in check. Ensuring that these birds remain safe from harmful chemicals is essential for preserving their role as natural predators and keeping the balance of nature intact.

The great horned owl of Chandler Pond is more than just a nocturnal hunter—it is a symbol of the delicate balance between humans, wildlife, and the environment. Its distinctive hoot echoes across the pond, reminding us of the wonders of the natural world and the importance of living in harmony with it. By using non-toxic pest control solutions to manage rodent populations, we can support the owl and other wildlife in maintaining the health of their ecosystems while ensuring that nature’s predators can continue their crucial work. As you hear the owl's hoot echo in the night, remember that this powerful creature is more than just a sound in the darkness; it's a vital guardian of the environment.

Want to hear what a Great Horned Owl sounds like?

Visit Mass Audubon’s Owl page.

Bufflehead Ducks on Chandler Pond

by Jared McNabb

Shorter days and dropping temperatures are certain indications that fall is beginning the transition to winter. Around Chandler Pond there are other hints that old man winter is just around the corner and one of the most exciting signs is the arrival of buffleheads. While buffleheads are just one species of winter waterfowl to arrive in the area they are certainly one of the most striking and interesting of our winter visitors.

You have likely seen them in your walks around the pond. Buffleheads are typically smaller in size than the common mallards that make Chandler Pond their year-round residence. The male buffleheads sport a striking large white patch across the back of their head that extends from side to side often peaking in a distinctive crest. Look carefully and in just the right light, you’ll see that parts of the males’ heads have a beautiful iridescent green and purple seen.

Their female counterparts typically have brownish heads and neck except for an oval white patch that extends from below the eye back towards their neck. Without a doubt, they are some of the cutest visitors we have to the shores of Chandler Pond. If their unique markings do not grab your attention, their curious calls just might! It is often considered to be a grating, chattering, guttural, cuk-cuk-cuk.

Male Bufflehead and Female Bufflehead, photos from AllAboutBirds.org (The Cornell Lab)

Our winter visitors come from Canda and other locations to the north. It is much colder up that way at this time of year and when their breeding season comes to an end they take flight for the shallow bays, open oceans, lakes and ponds around us …like Chandler Pond. Our temperatures do not bother this feisty fowl as they dive down and pop back up again when feeding on everything from insects, plants, pondweeds and even snails or other crustaceans when available. They are not picky eaters. Our winter visitors typically stay in and around the pond right up until the time when temperatures are consistently cold enough to freeze the water.

Male Buffleheads on Chandler Pond, November 2023 (photo by Neal Klinman)

As you observe a flotilla of these interesting ducks on Chandler Pond, you’ll notice that you rarely see them out of the water. Buffleheads prefer to bob along on the water and their plumage makes them very buoyant. Their small legs are set back further on their body than many other ducks which makes for great propulsion on the water but not the best mobility on land.

Try to catch a view of these funny and curious visitors throughout the winter. They will likely stick around as long as there is open, unfrozen, water for them to enjoy.

“European naiad”: Chandler Pond’s Most Recent Invasive Aquatic Plant

by Bill King

Bill King cleaning the inlet on the North West side of the pond

I first noticed the invasive aquatic plant “European naiad” (scientific name Najas minor) in the summer of 2021 while hand and shrub rake harvesting the invasive aquatic plant Eurasian watermilfoil using Steve’s sit-on-top kayak. An advantage of hand harvesting is that one can leave behind the harmless plants. Both invasives produce floating fragments around six inches long: Eurasian watermilfoil grows a long stem up to the surface, but European naiad grows only 1 ½ feet tall from the bottom. From above, it looks like a small round bush, although in shallow water the leaf tips break the surface. I have not yet found it in the deeper waters in the middle of Chandler Pond.

Eurasian watermilfoil is capable of covering the surface and reproduces by fragmentation. It has been in Chandler Pond since 2004, and hand harvesting and chemical treatments (in 2005, 2009, and 2014) are being used to control it.

This invasive was first noticed in 2021 and identified as the invasive European Naiad, also called Najas minor, or brittle bushy pondweed and more names.  It reproduces by fragmentation in the summer, is only 1 ½ feet tall, but only the seeds survive the winter.  Hand harvesting here has not been sufficient, so chemical treatment may be needed.

By August 29, 2021, the leaves had curled backwards in a very unusual and attractive way, away from their base on the stem where the tiny underwater flowers are. Suddenly I realized, “This plant was not here before the 2020 pandemic lockdown, it is rapidly increasing, and it is so attractive that I would like to take it home to my turtle aquarium: This is likely to be an invasive-released aquarium plant!”  It turns out it is.

In 2008, Najas minor was listed as “likely invasive”, and “Importation and propagation/sale prohibited”, and “In Massachusetts, it is only found in Berkshire County.” in the book A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts, available for only $5 from www.mass.gov/guides/masswildlife-publications.  (It is also found in https://www.mass.gov/doc/dcr-guide-to-aquatic-plants-in-massachusetts/download.)

Identification was confirmed by Lisa Kumpf, aquatic biologist at the Charles River Watershed Association, as well as by Jim Straub and Tom Flannery of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Lakes and Ponds Program. They all said that it has now spread to the Charles River.

Hand harvesting removal of invasive European naiad and Eurasian watermilfoil is usually done with a sit-on-top kayak or a rowboat, chest waders, a brush rake, gloves, and either a bucket or a burlap bag.

Unlike mild Eurasian watermilfoil infestations, this method has not at all kept up with the spread of European naiad.

Najas minor seems to have a short growing season. Last year I could not find it on May 31, but did find it on June 14. It reproduces by fragmentation in the summer, but only the seeds survive the winter. In fact, when Jen (one of our volunteers) joined me in kayaks on October 30, 2022 in order to learn to identify and remove it and Eurasian watermilfoil, there was no sign of Najas minor.

Nick Long, the recent assistant to Paul Sutton in the Urban Wilds Initiative of the Boston Parks and Recreation Dept, took a tour with me in Frank’s rowboat on August 22, 2022.  I showed him how heavy the Najas minor had become in the shallow water along much of the Western shore, even in areas where it had been cleared before with shrub rakes and hand pulling. Thus, hand harvesting has not been sufficient, so a chemical herbicide treatment may be needed later.

European Naiad on rake and near surface. This was was taken near the flagpole on Sept.17. Note the curved back leaves, which were straight and brush-like earlier in the season. Photo by Dexter Vanzile.

A chemical herbicide treatment was last applied for Eurasian watermilfoil in Chandler Pond in 2014.  In 2021 Solitude Lake Management treated upstream in the Newton Commonwealth Golf Course. Najas minor has not reached the golf course waters per the follow up surveys after their chemical treatment. Neither Nick Monllos, Vidhya, or myself have ever seen it on the filtering screen at the inlet to Chandler Pond (near Kenrick St.).

It may be necessary to apply a chemical herbicide and Boston Parks and Rec. is looking into doing a plant survey in Chandler Pond this summer. Nick Long said, “Regular baseline water quality testing would help us understand how to care for the pond in general and what to prioritize in current and future ecological restoration work.”

Earth Day: A Look Back, A Look Ahead

By DB Reiff

The first Earth Day, on April 22 more than 50 years ago, was a big deal. Some 20-million people celebrated it at tens of thousands of sites, including schools, universities, and communities across the country. That 1970 Earth Day marked the birth of the modern environmental movement.

Until April 22, 1970, most Americans were unaware of how pollution threatened the environment, wildlife, and human health. The awareness that sparked that first Earth Day also generated a new era in United States history.

After the first Earth Day, Congress established the Environmental Protection Agency and passed the Clean Air Act of 1970. By 1972 Congress passed the Clean Water Act and the EPA banned the chemical DDT. In 1973 the EPA confirmed that lead gasoline exhaust posed a threat to public health and by 1975 unleaded gasoline was widely available. In 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed and in 1982 the EPA announced a rule requiring all elementary and secondary schools buildings be tested for asbestos.

In 2022, with more than a billion people set to celebrate in 193 countries, celebrating Earth Day is still a big deal. Despite all the new regulations that followed the first Earth Day, environmental degradation has worsened. Pollution from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gasoline has caused the earth’s atmosphere to grow warmer. In fact, the past seven years have been the hottest in recorded history.

Record-breaking temperatures in the Arctic have caused what’s referred to as “permafrost” to thaw. This April, an ice shelf the size of New York City completely collapsed away from Antarctica. And waters in the Gulf of Maine averaged an all-time high in 2021, affecting ocean-life from lobsters to whales.

If anything, Earth Day is even more critical now than it was in 1970. But it’s not time to throw up our hands in defeat.

Here are three simple things that can make a difference.

1. Urge lawmakers to pass environmental bills and regulations.

2. Drive fewer miles and consider an electric car. NASA scientists have shown that air pollution levels dropped significantly during COVID-19.

3. Plant trees. Or if you can’t plant one, ask the City of Boston for a new sidewalk tree. Trees absorb and sequester many of the most harmful gasses in our atmosphere. By shading the earth from the hot sun they help keep temperatures down and humans more comfortable. And, just looking at trees has a calming effect on us. 

And calm is something we all need – not just on Earth Day.

Growing up on Chandler Pond

by Sandra Kilbride, Brighton

I believe I was fortunate to grow up in Brighton with Chandler Pond and Gallagher Park in my back yard. I was six years old in 1942 when we moved here and don't know if I fully appreciated my surroundings at that early age. I look back now with fond memories of this lovely place. I spent most of the days outdoors, either riding my bike around the pond, running through the field of grass looking for dandelions or wild flowers or playing with my friends. Once, I attempted to fish out here with my cousin but didn't like to put the squirmy bait on the pole; he had to help me with it and that was the beginning and end of my fishing.

Sometimes my friends and I would play squash ball in the field, chalk up the walkway for hopscotch, climb trees or in the fall when the city would rake up all the leaves into a pile, jump in and mess it all up; that was fun.

In the winter the skates went on and that was the best for me, I could walk out my back door, through the yard, down the steps that my grandfather built; right to the ice. My Dad was a skater and taught me how to skate. We skated at night as well, when my uncle from his second floor would shine a flood light on the ice. When it got cold we went in the cellar to have hot chocolate. But early in the season we couldn't go on the ice until the young men from St. John's Seminary would skate; then we new it was safe.

We also sled, tobogganed and skied the hills of the the Commonwealth Golf Course. Those hills came right down to where the Chandler Pond apartments are today.

There was a large horse barn in that area with lots of horses. On the Sunday auction day the Surreys were parked out on the dirt rode and I would climb up on one and pretend to be going somewhere. I saw lost of movies, it was easy to pretend!

I loved going in the barn and visiting the horses. We were never allowed to ride them. Sadly it burned down many years ago. I remember that so vividly! The horses were set loose because my cousins saw the fire and ran over to open the gates and let them escape. They were all over the neighborhood including one in our driveway. Most of them got out but a few didn't make it. There were also goats and pigs at the barn; I never found out what happened to them.

Coincidentally the two cousins who opened the gate to rescue the horses just a few years earlier had been rescued themselves. They fell through the ice while skating in the weakest area of the pond by the spring on the Kenrick St. side. They were rescued by two men from the fire department; it was posted in the newspaper.

Lots of wide open spaces to explore and play. My favorite location was among the huge piles of granite located before the Lake Shore Rd. gate. Most of the granite was removed, a few are still around. I'm sure there were snakes among all those rock piles; I guess I wasn't thinking about that!

After supper we played hide and seek and squash ball in the street and would need to hold up the game when a car would happen to drive up.

When the lights came on it was time to go home!

Let’s talk Climate Change: Which trees absorb the most carbon dioxide?

Trees are critical to stopping climate change because during photosynthesis they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But not all trees absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide.

Oak is the genus with the most carbon-absorbing species and, lucky for us, Chandler Pond is surrounded by oak trees. The common Horse-Chestnut tree is also a good carbon absorber as is the Black Walnut tree.

The longest-living trees with the most mass (hardwood trees) are considered to be the best at locking away carbon dioxide. Tree species that grow quickly and live long are ideal “carbon sinks”— a carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.

What Earth Day Has done for us

by DB Reiff

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, when approximately 20 million people participated in events at tens of thousands of sites including elementary and secondary schools, universities, and communities across the country. It was one of the largest grassroots community service movements in US history and is now celebrated every year by 1 billion people worldwide.

Until the first Earth Day, many Americans were unaware of how pollution threatened the environment and, in turn, wildlife and human health. They were also unsuspecting of the link between pollution and what the country saw as progress.

The success of Earth Day and the modern environmental movement is a tale of the human spirit, of momentum, and of three heroes who lit the way.

Environmental Degradation Gets on People’s Radar

After World War II, and the late 1950s, biologists, chemists, physicists, and others who had worked on new technologies during the war, were recruited by industry to convert those technologies into commercial products and practices. Those practices often included indiscriminate application of agricultural chemicals and pesticides that polluted streams, devastated bird and animal populations, and sickened people.

Understanding of those connections was beginning to grow due to the revolutionary work of Rachel Carson, our first hero. Her 1962 book Silent Spring, transformed how people understood the relationship between chemicals, the environment, and their health. The public started to realize that pollution wasn’t just ugly, but dangerous. Chemicals used for farming, toxic waste from manufacturing, air pollution, lead in the air and water could even be deadly.

The architect

By 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, our second hero, had become frustrated that he couldn’t get his colleagues to act on environmental issues. So he decided to go straight to the people. He was confident that there was deep support for a movement to improve the environment. But, in his words, “I was not quite prepared for the overwhelming response that occurred on that day.”

That overwhelming response catapulted leaders into action and seven months later, on December 2, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an executive order creating the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By December 31, Congress passed Clean Air Act of 1970.

That was just the beginning. By 1972 Congress passed the Clean Water Act; in 1972 the EPA Banned the chemical DDT; in 1973 the EPA confirmed that lead from leaded gasoline posed a threat to public health and issued regulations reducing lead in gasoline; in 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed, in 1982 the EPA announced a rule requiring all elementary and secondary U.S. schools to test for asbestos in their buildings.

The struggle to slow pollution and maintain our environment continues to this day. We have Rachel Carson, Nelson Gaylord Nelson, and our third hero, the people that made the first Earth Day such a success, to thank for the safeguards we now enjoy.  But slowing pollution and global climate change will take courage, persistence, and ongoing people-power. This Earth Day we invite you and your friends to join with the Friends of Chandler Pond to help make a difference in our own environmental jewel.

Trill, a poem by Neal Klinman

TRILL

by Neal Klinman, March, 2021

You might not think
That a home has a trill.
But our house is on a pond-
Chandler Pond-
Right here in the city,
Tucked away in an
arm of the Nonantum Valley.

And the sky reaches down.
And the trees reach up.
And the cattails sway with the breeze
As the geese go honking
And the hawks go soaring.

Fish like to laze along the shore;
Who knows what they are doing out in the middle.
It is not very deep,
Only about six feet by some accounts,
Which we test through holes in the ice come wintertime.

Look, there lifts the heron,
Majestic in its glide.
A cormorant dives from the trunk of a submerged log.
You can catch glimpses also of foxes, raccoons, swans.
The snapping turtles are shocking, like dinosaurs.
An occasional eagle or osprey
Snatches carp from the dark waters.
And myriad birds who catch the attention of folks with binoculars.
Resident mallards soak in the orange pink sunsets with the joggers and passersby.

At night we hear the rattle of the trains down by the river
And the echoes of proverbial sirens through the city.
The rustle of the leaves
And the whines of distant engines.

But the trill-
The sound of home-
Is the familiar call of our
Red-winged blackbirds. They are with us early spring through splendid fall,
Dawn till dusk,
As they make homes of their own.
We stake claims together here in our pond-side neighborhood
As we raise our young with an eye to the seasons-
Chatting with neighbors,
Marveling at the moon,
And steadying ourselves together against the winds.

New Tree on the Block

By Maria G. Rodrigues

Have you met the new tree on Chandler Pond? Her name is “Jairam’s tree.” She’s pleased to meet you, so do stop by and say hi.

Jairam’s tree was a gift from Friends of Chandler Pond and the City of Boston’s Park and Recreation department. It honors my son, Jairam, who grew up at Chandler Pond, playing with the snails in the “mouth” of the pond by Kenrick street, chasing the geese off our lawns, protecting the turtles as they crossed the street back to the pond after laying their eggs, caring for baby birds that fell off trees during storms, and of course, clearing trash and debris.

Jairam loved the Pond. He loved Brighton. He was proud to be a Bostonian. But most of all, Jairam loved Nature. His commitment to protect our planet was born from his experiences at Chandler Pond.

On the last year of his life, he joined millions of high- schoolers around the world in the Fridays Youth for Climate strikes. He had never been as happy and energized as when he was lobbying local officials on behalf of the Green New Deal and many other environmentally sustainable policies.

In other words, Jairam was a typical idealist (and often pesky) teen-ager. And Jairam’s Tree is a typical tree. Together they remind us to stop and pay attention – to the Earth, to our neighbors, to the small and big treasures we have all around us, and to our common future.

How many steps does it take to get around Chandler Pond?

by Ruairi Dowling

Growing up on Chandler Pond, I have walked its circumference many times, but recently I wondered, how many steps does it take to get around the pond?

My mom and I decided to find out.

We chose a sunny but windy Sunday morning to begin our trek. The journey began at the bulletin board on Lake Shore Road. Our route took us down Lake Shore Road and along the black path that meanders through Gallagher Park. Next, we took a right on Kenrick Street, a right on Lake Street and then a right onto Lake Shore Road to return us to the bulletin board.. Due to social distancing, we were not always able to stay on the sidewalk or path, and we paused once or twice to say hello to some of the neighbors. According to our iPhone, the final count was 1,693 steps.

How many steps does it take you?

Spot these Chandler Pond Birds!

Can you identify the Eagle, Swan, Hawk, Blue Heron, Osprey and Common Merganser in these photos our neighbors have taken this spring?

Watch for these birds on your walks around the pond!

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Have you taken a photo of wildlife around Chandler Pond? Share it with us! Follow us and Tweet it to us at @Chandler_Pond

Please Don't Feed the Geese

Though many people think of a pond as being an idyllic setting for Canada Geese they do not belong in an urban, shallow pond, like Chandler Pond.  It takes only one goose on a one acre pond to overload the water with phosphorous, creating algae blooms that deprive the water of oxygen, killing fish and other aquatic life. The geese are also extremely territorial pushing out other water fowl that would be native to a small pond.

In 2015, then Boston Parks Commissioner Christopher Cook, came to Chandler Pond to address the issue of the geese overtaking the pond and park.  At the time there were over 200 geese at the pond and Cook stated that this was the highest concentration of geese in the city of Boston. He acknowledged that the park was unusable as he walked around the pond stepping in and around geese droppings the entire way. He agreed that if Friends of Chandler Pond could find a solution, Boston Parks and Recreation would support it.

In 2017, with the support of Boston Parks, our Friends group raised funds to implement a Border Collie program, similar to the one used at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

The Border Collies are trained dogs that mimic the behavior of a predatory threat. They are brought to the pond several times a week to stalk the geese but do do not harm them. Eventually the geese leave the pond after realizing the Border Collie's will be a constant threat. This method of mitigation is approved by the Humane Society of America.  The first year of the program saw an 80 percent reduction in the geese population. The following year, the reduction was 90% of the original number with 3 months in the summer being virtually geese-free. This reduction in numbers has greatly improved the use of the Park as the sidewalks are now clear and a variety of bird species have returned as well as improvement in the water quality supporting other aquatic life.

We will continue to try and fund this vital program and ask that people please not feed the geese. The damage they cause goes far beyond aesthetics and is a real threat to the long term viability of the pond.

20 years ago: The Chandler Pond Dredging Project

by Sandy Kilbride

Chandler Pond is the last remaining man-made urban pond  in the city of Boston. But without caring and persevering residents, it may have dried up years ago.

In the 1990’s, conservationists and residents of Brighton had been voicing concerns to Boston Parks engineers about the condition of Chandler Pond. The health of the Pond was threatened by decades of sediment and algae buildup as a result of runoff from nearby development. The average depth of the pond should be 6 feet, but it was only 2 feet deep. If the buildup of sediment were to be allowed to continue unchecked, Chandler Pond would dry up. It was clear that dredging the pond was the only solution. 

In 1996, Brighton residents, led by Genevieve Ferullo organized to create the ‘Chandler Pond Preservation Society’ to restore and preserve Chandler Pond. After years of navigating massive city, state and federal bureaucracy, the dredging was approved to begin in February 1999. Massachusetts State Rep. Kevin Honan helped the Chandler Pond Preservation Society obtain the bulk of the funds.

The project, which received approval from the Army Core of Engineers, was considered a major victory by environmental activists, who recognized the pond could die without intervention. Monthly community meetings were held, to give neighbors and the Parks Department regular opportunities to discuss the progress of the dredging plans, studies, and permits, and share concerns. These meetings were a true collaboration between the Parks Department and neighbors.

The dredging actually started in May, 1999. Crews prepared by erecting fences and lining wetlands with hay bales to prevent erosion  The pond’s clay bottom forced trucks to load at the access road instead of the pond itself, because crews discovered 50% more yardage of silt than previously estimated. During it’s removal, the deep silt even swallowed up the D-9 bulldozer and some dam breaks, which needed to be recovered and repaired.

Crews began by pumping with a powerful (2,000 gal. per minute) diesel pump into the storm drain. After several weeks, when the water was gone, the bulldozer pushed the silt to an access ramp where excavators shoveled the material into trailer dump trucks at a rate of 1,000 yards per day.  The sludge was piled in mounds while excess water drained out, then an estimated 22,000 yards of silt was transported to West Roxbury to cap the Gardner Street Landfill  At one delivery about 3 yards of sloppy silt dumped onto Tremont St. when a truck slammed on the brakes.

During the dredging, many old and new bottles, along with other odd items were dug up: golf balls, and a sleigh runner, perhaps a piece of ice cutting equipment.

Finally the dredging was done as residents waited and watched as the water slowly seeped in. The pond was once again healthy.

Most of the wildlife had been removed prior to the dredging and slowly returned to their natural habitat.

Chandler Pond was saved.

What does Chandler Pond mean to you?

by Jared McNabb

Chandler Pond means many different things to the members of its surrounding community. For students and commuters, it provides a break from the stress of school and the workplace; bird-watchers and wildlife lovers appreciate the abundant and surprising species that make it their home. Even the occasional fisherman (or woman) can be seen along the banks of the pond.

For my Grandmother Eleanor McNabb, the pond was a bit of a fountain of youth. A native of Brighton, in 1922 at the age of 12, Eleanor moved from Arlington Street to 130 Lake Street. For the next 88 years Eleanor resided there and hardly a day went by that she did not enjoy the view across the pond. For residents of the Chandler Pond neighborhood, Eleanor was a fixture as she routinely walked her bichon frise, Milo, around the pond. Always beneath a stylish hat, armed with a positive outlook and kind words for anyone she encountered on her walks, Eleanor was convinced that those daily strolls were crucial to a healthy and long life. As she entered her 90’s, the walks were not so frequent but she loved to look out across Chandler Pond’s silvery surface and talk about all the enjoyment it had brought her. She recalled the frigid mornings of impromptu ice hockey games and “a sea of black” as “hundreds of seminarians came over to go skating” dressed in their priestly gowns. These memories were always followed by a cautionary tale about a careless lad that had fallen into the pond when he ventured out onto thin ice.

My earliest memories of Chandler Pond were from my visits to Grandma’s house; always with tackle box and fishing rod in tow. The abundant sunfish and catfish of Chandler Pond provided hours of entertainment and were the beginning of my appreciation for such a special spot.

It has been almost ten years since my Grandmother passed away at the age of 100.  Her enjoyment of this urban sanctuary brought her incredible years of pleasure and in many ways I believe Eleanor found her own personal secret of longevity on her walks around the shores of Chandler Pond. I look forward to creating more memories and enjoying as many sunsets as her.

I know what Chandler Pond meant to my Grandmother, what does it mean to you?

Watermilfoil Wars in Chandler Pond

by Bill King

Twenty-one years ago, in 1999, Chandler Pond was dredged, thus preventing it from becoming a stinky, filthy swamp. Massachusetts State Rep. Kevin Honan helped the Chandler Pond Preservation Society obtain the bulk of the funds.

A few years later, in 2004, the invasive aquatic plant Eurasian watermilfoil showed up in the Pond.

Eurasian watermilfoil is a pesky invasive that has no natural predators here and can overtake native plants, cover the surface, and harm the fish. It is a beautiful plant, with delicate filigree, that was previously sold for home aquariums. But when emptied into ponds, it wreaks havoc, and its sale is now outlawed. Although the seeds are not viable in New England, watermilfoil clones itself here. It releases 6-inch fragments, “clones”, which float for awhile, grow roots, and then sink to the bottom. In a flowing river, watermilfoil does not grow to the density that it can in a pond like Chandler Pond.

To address the watermilfoil level, in 2005, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department arranged for Chandler Pond to be treated with the chemical Sonar (fluridone).

Unfortunately, Eurasian watermilfoil can never be completely eradicated. So, using small rakes, rowboats, kayaks, rubber chest waders and occasionally snorkels, volunteers from Friends of Chandler Pond (Chandler Pond Preservation Society) hand-picked the watermilfoil survivors that we could find.

 In 2008, State Reps. Mike Moran and Kevin Honan and former State Senator Steve Tolman fought to obtain a $20,000 earmark for current and future treatments of the pond. However, despite their hard work, the final state budget did not include it. Nevertheless, the treatments were still performed on June 19 and July 15, 2009. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department paid $5,000 and the Chandler Pond Preservation Society paid $970.

In 2014, a third set of chemical treatments was performed, funded by the BPR.

 Our neighboring Newton Commonwealth Golf Course now has Eurasian watermilfoil in Dana Brook and the cement irrigation pool -presumably spread by geese or ducks from Chandler Pond or the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. An underground pipe connects the golf course to the northwest corner of Chandler Pond. This pipe allows the watermilfoil, as well the non-native invasive, but easily hand harvested, waterchestnut, to come back from the treatment faster than it would have otherwise.

In May 2016, the input of watermilfoil from the golf course was drastically reduced when a wire screen with a half inch mesh was installed in the shallow water at Chandler Pond’s inlet. However, this screen needs to be cleared regularly by volunteers or it fills up and the weeds will then flow around it into the pond.  New volunteers are always welcome!

 The manager of Newton Commonwealth Golf course, David Stowe, hopes to receive permission from the Newton Conservation Commission for a spring 2020 chemical treatment. But until then, the Pond still needs help from volunteers to keep it free from watermilfoil.

The good news is that, thanks to many dedicated volunteers, Chandler Pond also has native aquatic flowering plants such as coontail (hornwort), elodea, lesser duckweed, and small pondweed in or on the water. Also there is a lot of the alien, but not very problematic, curly pondweed, and also lower plants such as algae and moss.

An image of Eurasian watermilfoil is displayed on the kiosk on Lake Shore Rd, and everyone is encouraged to report sightings to the Friends of Chandler Pond or to pick out and discard any noticed watermilfoil from the shore line.